Discrimination

  • June 10, 2025

    GOP Lawmakers Launch Probe Into Harvard's Hiring Practices

    A group of House Republicans announced Tuesday that they are opening an investigation into Harvard University's hiring policies to probe whether the institution is shirking Title VII by giving preferences to marginalized applicants when recruiting for open roles.

  • June 10, 2025

    3 Lessons From 3rd Circ. Reviving Fire Dept. Beard Battle

    A recent Third Circuit decision in favor of a Christian fire department worker who wanted to grow facial hair despite the department's no-beard policy holds lessons for employers about handling religious accommodation requests. Here, Law360 looks at three of those lessons.

  • June 10, 2025

    Longtime Reed Smith Employment Pro Joins Fisher Phillips

    An attorney who has focused his career on advising clients on employment and labor matters recently moved his practice to Fisher Phillips' Pittsburgh office after 13 years with Reed Smith LLP.

  • June 10, 2025

    Nev. Pension Plan Urges 9th Circ. To Ax DOJ Military Bias Suit

    Pension credits bought by military service members aren't an accrued benefit under the Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act, Nevada's public employee retirement system argued, urging the Ninth Circuit not to revive the U.S. Department of Justice's suit alleging the state and system overcharged employees for the credits.

  • June 10, 2025

    Amazon Worker Says Military Class Ruling Needs Reopening

    The U.S. Supreme Court declined to weigh in on a case that would have had an impact on a former Amazon employee's request for class status in her military leave suit, the worker told a New York federal court, saying it should reopen her suit and approve class treatment.

  • June 10, 2025

    NY Homeland Unit Resolves Ex-Employee's Harassment Suit

    New York state and its homeland security agency struck a $250,000 deal to end a Hispanic former employee's suit alleging that her boss subjected her to humiliating comments because of her race, gender and sexual orientation until she felt compelled to quit, according to federal court filings.

  • June 10, 2025

    8th Circ. Mulls If Supervisor's Family Remark Signals Sex Bias

    The Eighth Circuit wondered Tuesday whether a Walmart supervisor's supposed rationale for promoting a male employee to a managerial role — that he had a "family to support" — lends credence to a female former employee's sex discrimination claim over the advancement decision.

  • June 10, 2025

    7th Circ. Won't Revive United Workers' Vax Mandate Suit

    A Seventh Circuit panel on Monday affirmed a district court's decision to throw out a lawsuit from former employees challenging United Airlines' COVID-19 vaccination mandate, agreeing that the workers' claims are "either improperly preserved or inadequately pled."

  • June 10, 2025

    Blue States Back Harvard In $2.2B Funding Freeze Fight

    A coalition of 20 states and the District of Columbia filed a brief supporting Harvard University's bid for a pretrial win in its challenge to the Trump administration's move to freeze $2.2 billion in funds, telling a Massachusetts federal judge that the president's attacks on universities are "an attack on the states themselves."

  • June 10, 2025

    Gov't Settles Asian ATF Agent's Bias Suit Over Job Transfer

    The federal government agreed to settle a suit from an Asian agent of the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives who claimed his boss insinuated that Asian workers were better fit for administrative work, and then transferred him to a clerical position.

  • June 09, 2025

    Blake Lively, NYT Defeat 'It Ends With Us' Defamation Claims

    A New York federal judge on Monday threw out Justin Baldoni's defamation claims against his "It Ends With Us" costar Blake Lively, her husband Ryan Reynolds and The New York Times, among others, ruling that Baldoni hasn't plausibly alleged any statements were made or reported maliciously.

  • June 09, 2025

    Florida Will Ask 11th Circ. To Revive Trans Health Suit

    The state of Florida indicated Friday it will ask the Eleventh Circuit to reopen its lawsuit against the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services challenging a rule setting coverage requirements on employers for gender-affirming care, despite the new administration's reversal on the rule.

  • June 09, 2025

    Emirates Ex-Workers Seek Class Certification In Layoff Suit

    A group of Emirates ex-employees who lost their jobs during the COVID-19 pandemic asked a New York federal judge to certify their lawsuit against the airline as a class action, saying their discrimination, benefits and WARN Act claims apply to many ex-workers and should be processed collectively.

  • June 09, 2025

    Jury Awards Ex-Napoli Atty $6.1M In Lengthy Retaliation Battle

    A six-person jury in New York awarded more than $6.1 million in damages to the former general counsel of now-defunct firm Napoli Bern Ripka Shkolnik LLP on her claim that the firm attacked her reputation after she sued for sex discrimination 10 years ago.

  • June 09, 2025

    Mediation Fails To End 'Sham' Hiring Suit Against Wells Fargo

    Wells Fargo and a class of investors accusing the bank of conducting "sham" job interviews to meet diversity targets that later triggered a stock price drop have told a California federal judge that the mediation they attempted last month did not result in a settlement.

  • June 09, 2025

    Veteran Appeals VA Discontinuation Of Trans Health Coverage

    A transgender woman urged a veterans appeals court Monday to find that the Veterans Health Administration is wrongly refusing to refill her prescriptions for hormone therapy following a federal notice discontinuing gender-affirming care for veterans.

  • June 09, 2025

    Ex-Medical Co. Worker's Sex Harassment Verdict Cut To $1.3M

    A New York federal judge shrank a $7.5 million jury verdict in a former medical device company employee's lawsuit alleging she was sexually harassed for years and fired after complaining that an executive tried to assault her, saying the punitive damages award was five times higher than appropriate.

  • June 09, 2025

    FEMA Dodges Atty's Bias And Retaliation Suit, For Now

    A California federal judge dismissed an attorney's lawsuit alleging two federal agencies fired her after she complained that a male colleague harassed her, saying the excessive length and repetitiveness of her claims makes an adequate response a "practical impossibility." 

  • June 09, 2025

    Judge Tosses Whistleblower Suit Against Pot Tracking Co.

    An Oregon federal judge on Monday dismissed a whistleblower action against Metrc, a company that provides product tracking services for a majority of U.S. regulated cannabis markets, after determining that the issues in the dispute were in play in a prior lawsuit.

  • June 09, 2025

    WilmerHale Seeks Full Fed Compliance On Struck-Down Order

    WilmerHale is asking a D.C. federal judge to make clear that a ruling invalidating an executive order against the firm applies to all federal agencies subject to President Donald Trump's directives.

  • June 09, 2025

    Teacher's Attys Get Fee Award In Jan. 6 Free Speech Case

    A Pennsylvania federal judge awarded nearly $1 million in fees and costs to attorneys who scored a win for a teacher who claimed he was unlawfully pushed out for attending a Jan. 6, 2021, rally in Washington, D.C., rejecting a school district's argument that no fee award was warranted.

  • June 09, 2025

    School Board Narrows Vax Bias Trial With $255K In Deals

    The St. Louis Board of Education has agreed to pay out $255,000 to settle religious bias claims from three workers who said they were illegally fired for refusing to get vaccinated against COVID-19, paring down a trial that's slated to begin Wednesday.

  • June 09, 2025

    AMC 'Dark Winds' Worker Says Crew Member Harassed Her

    An entertainment company behind the AMC thriller series "Dark Winds" paid a female worker less than her male counterparts and then fired her after she complained that a male crew member had harassed her, she told a California state court.

  • June 06, 2025

    High Court Says Software Glitch Led To Early Order List Drop

    An "apparent software malfunction" caused the U.S. Supreme Court's order list to be issued early Friday, orders in which the justices granted certiorari in four cases and refused to take up a long list of other ones, including cases centered on Pennsylvania's election system and the Obama Presidential Center.

  • June 06, 2025

    Christian School Shuts Down Prof's Race, Sex Bias Claims

    A Minnesota federal judge dismissed discrimination claims from a Black former professor who said a Christian university failed to act when someone vandalized her car with a racial slur, ruling a carveout in anti-discrimination law for religious employers doomed the bias allegations.

Expert Analysis

  • Draft Pay Equity Rule May Pose Contractor Compliance Snags

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    The Federal Acquisition Regulatory Council's recently proposed rule that would prohibit government contractors from requesting certain job applicants' salary history seems simple on the surface, but achieving compliance will be a nuanced affair for many contractors who must also adhere to state and local pay transparency laws, say attorneys at Hogan Lovells.

  • What Texas Employers Should Know After PWFA Ruling

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    After a Texas federal judge recently enjoined federal agencies from enforcing the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act against the state of Texas, all employers must still remain sensitive to local, state and federal protections for pregnant workers, and proactive in their approach to pregnancy-related accommodations, says Maritza Sanchez at Phelps Dunbar.

  • AI In Performance Management: Mitigating Employer Risk

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    Companies are increasingly turning to artificial intelligence tools in performance management, exposing organizations to significant risks, which they can manage through employee training, bias assessments, and comprehensive policies and procedures related to the new technology, say Gregory Brown and Cindy Huang at Jackson Lewis.

  • Spartan Arbitration Tactics Against Well-Funded Opponents

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    Like the ancient Spartans who held off a numerically superior Persian army at the Battle of Thermopylae, trial attorneys and clients faced with arbitration against an opponent with a bigger war chest can take a strategic approach to create a pass to victory, say Kostas Katsiris and Benjamin Argyle at Venable.

  • What 2 Years Of Ukraine-Russia Conflict Can Teach Cos.

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    A few key legal lessons for the global business community since Russia's invasion of Ukraine could help protect global commerce in times of future conflict, including how to respond to disparate trade restrictions and sanctions, navigate war-related contract disputes, and protect against heightened cybersecurity risks, say attorneys at Morgan Lewis.

  • EEOC Case Reminds That Men Can Also Claim Pay Bias

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    The Maryland State Highway Administration recently settled U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission claims that a male employee was paid less than his female colleagues, highlighting why employers should not focus on a particular protected class when it comes to assessing pay bias risk, say Barbara Grandjean and Audrey Merkel at Husch Blackwell.

  • Shaping Speech Policies After NLRB's BLM Protest Ruling

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    After the National Labor Relations Board decided last month that a Home Depot employee was protected by federal labor law when they wore a Black Lives Matter slogan on their apron, employers should consider four questions in order to mitigate legal risks associated with workplace political speech policies, say Louis Cannon and Cassandra Horton at Baker Donelson.

  • Avoiding Jurisdictional Risks From Execs' Remote Work

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    Following a California federal court's recent decision in Evans v. Cardlytics — where the case was remanded to state court because the company’s executives worked remotely in California — there are several steps employers can take to ensure they will not be exposed to unfavored jurisdictions, says Eric Fox at Quarles & Brady.

  • 11th Circ. FMLA Ruling Deepens Divide Over Causation

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    The Eleventh Circuit's recent ruling in Lapham v. Walgreen distinguishes the circuit as the loudest advocate for the but-for causation standard for assessing Family and Medical Leave Act retaliation claims, though employers in other jurisdictions may encounter less favorable standards and the U.S. Supreme Court will likely have to address the circuit split eventually, say attorneys at Benesch.

  • Handling Neurodivergence As The Basis Of Disability Claims

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    Three recent discrimination claims in Rhode Island and New Jersey show how allegations of adverse treatment of neurodivergent individuals will continue to be tested in court, so employers should create an environment that welcomes the disclosure of such conditions, says Ting Cheung at Sanford Heisler.

  • Employers Should Take Surgeon's Sex Bias Suit As A Warning

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    A Philadelphia federal jury's recent verdict in a sex bias suit over Thomas Jefferson University's inaction on a male plaintiff's sexual harassment complaint is a reminder to employers of all stripes about the importance of consistently applied protocols for handling complaints, say attorneys at Williams & Connolly.

  • Eye On Compliance: Workplace March Madness Pools

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    With March Madness set to begin in a few weeks, employers should recognize that workplace sports betting is technically illegal, keeping federal and state gambling laws in mind when determining whether they will permit ever-popular bracket pools, says Laura Stutz at Wilson Elser.

  • Generative AI Adds Risk To Employee 'Self-Help' Discovery

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    Plaintiffs have long engaged in their own evidence gathering for claims against current or former employers, but as more companies implement generative AI tools, both the potential scope and the potential risks of such "self-help" discovery are rising quickly, says Nick Peterson at Wiley.